The Great Freeze
by PhysicalGraffiti
Summary: Two years after the Hoenn Incident, Opal and her family move to the Arrnum Region in the south. Little does she know that a disaster is hidden deep within the mountain ranges and a powerful conglomerate will stop at nothing to obtain it. New, Ch. 6 is up!
1. Chapter 1: New Beginnings

A/N: I do not own pokemon nor the manga so give it up for Nintendo in creating so many of them. Only four pokemon in this whole story belongs to me, which i still have to think up. I only own the OCs and the region of which this story takes place. Please read and review ;D

Chapter 1: New Beginnings

The truck jumped as the vehicle trounced over the bumps on the road. Opal, a girl with long dark brown hair who just turned twelve, woke up from her nap by the sudden jolt. She fell off the mattress and blocked her face as a box filled with clothes dropped on top of her. She angrily brushed away the mound of clothes that fell on her and stood up. She stretched her muscles and yawned before returning to the mattress. She felt the bumps on the road become rougher and heard the tires screech as it rolled over rocks and dirt. They had gotten off the main road to a dirt road.

Cliff Field is a new town with the distinction of being as close to nature as it possibly can. There are no paved roads and the electricity is gained from the wind and sun. Everyone in the town seemed to grow their own vegetables, but a local market provided everything else. It was a farming community coming together. But Opal's parents weren't farmers. Her dad is a naturalist and an archeologist. It is due to his job that they had come to the Arrnum Region from the Hoenn Region. A discovery in the Glacial Mountains sparked a large debate in the Archeology Community and Opal's father volunteered to check it out.

Opal looked at the sole pokeball she has. A distressed whismur whispered its complaints from inside. "I know Whispy," she apologized. It stubbornly calmed down and returned to its nap. Opal caught the whismur during their time in the Hoenn Region when the Kyogre and Groudon affair was at its height. The fight greatly disturbed the pokemon, who were in a frenzied state as the land and sea tore each other apart. Opal and her family escaped to New Mauville for safety, but along the way, a quake caused her dad to lose control of the car and they crashed into a tree. They sought refuge somewhere in the forest they crashed in. There they found a lost and hurt Whispy. Opal nursed it back to health with her basic knowledge of first aid throughout the chaos. Afterwards, they tried releasing it back to the wild, but it wouldn't stop following them. In the end, Opal's father allowed her to keep it.

The next two years were tough for them as everyone participated in the rebuilding of the Hoenn Region to its former glory. Opal helped with her whismur in locating people trapped in the rubble of cities most affected. Four months ago, Opal's father was given the approval to go to the Arrnum Region and left soon after. Opal and her mother only landed two weeks ago at the Jonansre airport.

The truck abruptly stopped and Opal fell to the floor once more. The door rolled upwards, revealing her mother's carefree face. "Opal! You have to smell the air here. It's so fresh." She took a deep breath. Opal climbed out of the truck and did the same. A rush of cool sea breeze greeted them as Opal released Whispy from its pokeball. It was happy to be out of the small space and out in the open and no one could blame it. They've been out on the road for three days. "Well, we're home. You can go claim your room while the moving pokemon and I take care of the stuff inside the truck."

"Ok! Come on Whispy," Opal yelled at the overly excited whismur. Both ran inside the two story house and checked every room and niche. The second floor held the bedrooms, three of them. Two had a door that led to the wide balcony that looked over a part of the town in the direction of the sea. Cliff Field really deserved the name as the town is situated on top of a cliff above the sea.

All of the houses had the same design, except for a couple of low cost buildings and businesses. However, far off in the distance was a large rectangular building, but something seemed odd about it. Opal pulled out a spyglass she always kept with her and inspected it. A black smoke was flowing out of the windows and people were either running towards it with various water pokemon or running from it in fear. "That building is on fire, Whispy!" she said to her companion. "We have to go help."

The little pink pokemon showed a determined attitude and followed its trainer to the front yard where Opal's mother was also inspecting the black cloud in the distance. "Mom! Where is my bike?"

"I put on the other side of the truck," she said without a care. Then, a thought hit her. "Are you going to the building over there?"

"There might be people inside," Opal said, checking the bike for any damage. She swung her leg over the seat as Whispy jumped on the handlebars. "Hang on."

Peddling hard, she maneuvered the bike with skill towards the building. Years of preparedness for the unknown during the reconstruction has left her in tune with danger as well as enticed by it. She broke hard when a man stopped her near the building. She took him to be the unconditional leader of the party putting out the fire. Despite their efforts, the fire seemed to grow and the smoke became darker. Something was spreading it. "Sorry, but this isn't a place for a little girl. You should try to get as far away as possible."

"But I can help!" she yelled at the man who fell back a step at her sudden (and rather loud) rebuttal. "My whismur can find people in a building with its ears."

A lady in a white lab coat, who has been listening to their conversation, ran towards them. "Really? Can you help us?" she said grabbing Opal's hands. She didn't seem to be much older than her, probably by three or four years.

"I sure can," she said proudly.

"Our professor didn't come out with the rest of us because he was afraid for the pokemon. He is still inside trying to transport them to our main branch in Jonansre. Please find him."

"Don't worry about a thing," Opal optimistically said, presenting them with a peace sign. She turned to the whismur. "Whispy use supersonic to find the professor." The little pink pokemon opened its mouth and released a low frequency sound wave only it can hear. The rebounding echo came back seconds later and it knew where the professor was at and tugged on Opal's shorts. "Good going, now let's go save him."

"Wait-" the man said, but it was too late, Opal and the whismur disappeared into the burning building.

Opal immediately covered her mouth with the sleeve of her long sleeve shirt upon entering. There was less smoke on the first floor and Opal could see without the help of whismur. They found the stairs to the next floor and it was much worse. Fire consumed everything it could and the ceiling had collapsed in the middle. "Professor, can you hear me?" Opal yelled to no avail. Whispy kept pulling her to move forward. "He isn't on the second floor either?" Whispy nodded and pointed to another set of stairs.

On the third floor, Opal began to realize how difficult it was becoming to breathe. Even the small whismur was short of breath. She called out again and received no answer. She deftly crossed the large hole in the center and thanked which ever God there was that the floor didn't give way. The fourth floor appeared to be suffering worse from the fire and the smoke was thickest there. Opal depended on Whispy to navigate her through the smoke. She tripped over a chair and scratched her knees. "Got to be careful," she said, gritting her teeth over the pain. "Professor, are you here?"

"Over… here…" a reply came from her left. She cautiously approached the source of the voice until she could see the ashen face of a very old man. "It is… a good thing… you came by or… I wouldn't… be able… to get out of here." He was breathing heavily; he must've been breathing in the smoke for a long time. "All of the pokemon… have been transferred… we can leave now…"

"I'll get you out," said Opal as she ducked under his arm and hoisted him to his feet. "We can't go back the way we came in because of that hole."

"We can… try the roof," the professor suggested. He was becoming weaker. Then there was a sudden flare up of fire in one direction and the three were buffeted with a dense cloud of smoke. Opal couldn't breathe nor see. The professor was sagging on her shoulder; she won't be able to keep a hold on his weight, not when her own strength was being sapped.

"Whispy –cough- find the stairs to the –cough- roof." The whismur made a hasty reply and directed Opal to another set of stairs, but the door to the roof was locked. "Looks like –cough- we have no choice. Whispy –cough- use pound to open the door."

Whispy rammed its small body at the door and after five slams the door busted open. The smoke rushed out of the building along with the three. Out in the fresh air, Opal can feel her strength slowly returning to her. She propped the professor near the railing and checked his pulse. It was weak, but getting stronger. "Ahoy!" she hailed the startled team on the ground. "Do you have a way to get us down?"

"I have a pidgey!" yelled back an old lady from the crowd of onlookers. "It'll only be able to carry one of you at a time, though."

"That's fine," yelled Opal, joyfully. The old lady released the pidgey and it rushed towards them with its small wings. "Take the professor first."

Whispy tensed up and alerted its trainer of the presence of another pokemon. It stood at the door, a weasel-like pokemon with fire shooting from its back. An angry yet pained expression on its face as it challenged both the pidgey and Whispy. Opal turned back to the pidgey and the professor. "Go now!" she said to it, but the professor woke up and grabbed Opal's arm.

"That cindaquil is the cause of the fire," he began. He placed an empty pokeball in her hand. "I don't know… why it got so angry, but please… catch it."

"Alright!" Opal smiled at him reassuringly before the pidgey took the sky as best it could and hovered down to the ground with all its might. With the professor gone, Opal turned her attention to the cindaquil at the doorway. "You ready for a battle, Whispy?" It murmured a quiet growl. "Alright! Go, use pound!"

Whispy ran up to the cindaquil, but the fire pokemon exploded into a cloud of smoke. Opal cringed as she heard a tackle land on her whismur and watched it slide across the floor outside the cloud. "Don't give up! Use your ears to track its movements, and then hit it with a supersonic!" Opal hoped her orders were heard.

Sure enough, they were. The small pokemon opened its mouth and unleashed a low pitch noise that disoriented the cindaquil. "Finish it with pound!" Whispy charged at full speed, jumped, and landed on the cindaquil's back. It gave a surprised squeak as it was flattened by the force of Whispy's weight and speed combined. Still willing to continue the fight, it dizzily stood on its feet and tried to unleash another smokescreen, but it got stuck in its throat. The cindaquil dropped to the floor with smoke trailing out of its nose and mouth, defeated by its own confusion. Taking her chance, Opal threw the ball at the cindaquil and it was enveloped in light before being sucked into the ball. She anxiously waited for the pokeball to signal its capture.

A dull click and the pokemon was hers. Opal picked up the ball and stared at the now calm cindaquil just as the pidgey arrived to take them to ground level. "Boy, am I glad to see you," she said to the pidgey. Opal picked up Whispy and the pidgey lifted them off the roof and floated down to the ground where the old woman, a rescue team, and the scientist lady waited for them. "Piece of cake," she flashed them the peace sign as she touched the ground.

"You were great," the scientist applauded her. The man who stopped her before mumbled his accolades before returning to his team. With the capture of cindaquil, they were able to get the fire under control. "Thank you for saving the professor. I don't know what I could've done if you hadn't come by."

"Oh it was nothing," Opal blushed. "I'm Opal, by the way."

"I'm Maybell, the assistant," the scientist said. Opal remembered the cindaquil and handed her the pokeball. "Hmm, it seems to have calmed down now and he seems to like you. Hang on to him for me, will you?"

"Ok," she hesitatingly said. Then she saw the professor being put into an ambulance. "Is he going to be alright?"

"That hearty old bag of bones won't be killed by something like this," Maybell laughed. "They're taking him to the clinic in town before sending him to the hospital in Jonansre. You should come by when you have the chance. We should really reward you for all your help, but it'd be easier to do it over there rather than here."

"My dad's office is in Jonansre so I'll pay a visit," Opal excitedly said. It has been awhile since she last saw her dad and it would be great to pass by and see how he is doing.

"Great, I'll give you our address," Maybell quickly scribbled the address on a piece of paper she kept with her and handed it to her. "Our phone number is there too just in case you get lost. Well, I have to go with the professor. He can be a handful when it comes to hospitals. Take care of the cindaquil." Maybell entered the ambulance as the professor noisily complained about being strapped down. Alone, Opal was hounded by a team of reporters and several townspeople.

"Opal!" said a voice from behind her as she was tackled into a hug by her mother. "God, how you scare me sometimes when you do such dangerous stuff."

"But I'm alright, mom," she tried to say as her mother squeezed harder. Embarrassed at having so many people watching, she pushed her mom off her.

"And now look! You got me dirty with your face covered in ash." Her mom tried wiping the dirt off her shirt, but only succeeded in spreading it. "We should go home. We still have a lot of stuff in the truck that needs to be taken out and you need a bath now, young lady." As Opal was being dragged away, she apologized to the reporters who stood stunned.

Once home, Opal hurried to the bathroom after grabbing a towel her mother left lying around for her. She started undressing after turning on water to fill the tub. She realized she had a burn on her right forearm that stung like hell when she tried to take off her shirt. She released the two pokemon from their balls and examined the rest of her body for scratches and injuries she would have to dress after bathing.

Whispy jumped into the tub, causing a splash that angered the cindaquil. Opal bent down and dried the cindaquil. "That's right, fire and water don't mix, but you sure are a well mannered pokemon. Why did you go berserk back at the lab?"

Cindaquil cocked its head to the side and wobbled to the farthest corner from the tub. It was still suffering the effects of the supersonic and the blow Whispy hit it with. Opal entered the bathtub and played with the whismur. "Well, we should get comfortable for a bit. I've decided on going to Jonansre after we finish helping mom unpack. Maybe we will get to see dad at his new office." She poured some water over her head and watched the ash gather on the water's surface.

_I wonder if he is thinking about us…_


	2. Chapter 2: Trouble on Route 901

Chapter 2: Trouble on Route 901

Opal couldn't sleep that night, her excitement keeping her up. She agonized over her equipment and what outfits to pack (and wear when she met her father). Fall was nearing its end and the weather was changing rapidly to freezing cold. She decided on wearing a white long sleeve shirt under a red hooded jacket, white cargo shorts that went to her knees, and knee-length socks that were very warm.

Her mom's worries also kept her from sleeping and she would occasionally open her daughter's bedroom door to see if she was still there. Nevertheless, it is common for children to leave home for adventure and travel. A lot of parents viewed this as a rite of passage for their children and support them throughout their journey, even if they fail to achieve what they sought after. Ten has always been the preferred age for kids to leave home, but Opal had already started her journey back in Hoenn, she just didn't know it then.

She woke up in the middle of the day after finally being able to fall asleep. She looked at the clock on her nightstand. "Gak, it's already this late!" she yelled, jumping out of bed and hurrying to the bathroom. After taking a bath, she rushed to put on the clothes she chose. They found a store in town that sold a belt specifically made for people with pokemon. She slipped the belt through the rings in her pants and wrapped a new waist pouch as well. She had a bag, but this pouch was for items she would need in a hurry (and money). She was about to leave her bedroom when a sudden glimpse at her mirror showed how bad her hair looked. She grabbed a ribbon and scissors from her nightstand drawer and tied her brown her into two ponytails. "It'll have to do for now," she said, grimly looking at her reflected image.

Once she was ready, she practically jumped downstairs where her mom, Whispy, and Typhon (the cindaquil) waited. The entire surface of the dinner table was covered with various plates of food, enough to feed the entire neighborhood and still have more for seconds. It was obvious that her mother was more worried than she was. "Mom! I'm only going to be gone for two weeks."

"A lot can happen in two weeks, Opal," she said, fidgeting with a towel. "You can't stop me from worrying. My only daughter is leaving me all alone while she goes in search of adventure and who knows what else. Maybe she'll find a boyfriend and I won't be there to see her through." Opal blushed red and berated her over dramatic mother. "Since you're going to Jonansre, I have a package for Thomas from his old office. Can you take it with you?"

"Sure," she said, as she stuffed her stomach full of delicious food. A nervous tension was building in the house that was threatening to explode like an electrode and the uncomfortable silence that hung in the air made it worse. Opal sprang up from her seat, her stomach unable to take anymore food (which was not even a scratch to the amount of food produced). She was determined to leave and it would be better now rather than soon when she would have second thoughts. They spent a few minutes on the porch staring at the sun rise over Cliff Field. Opal's mom hesitated to give her the bag. She didn't want to see her daughter go. They remembered how the bag used to weigh so much because of the amount of stuff they packed into it and how they struggled to make it light.

Opal looked at her bike which was checked and fitted for extensive riding. It shone as though it was brand new even though it's gone through so much stress and work over the two years under Opal. She hugged her mom. "Oh get out, you're bringing tears to my eyes," her mom said, fighting back some sobs. She took in a deep breath and smiled in encouragement for her daughter.

"I'll be back before you know it," Opal smiled back, returning her two pokemon to their pokeballs. She got on her bike and started the painful trip to Route pedaled fast to get away before her heart would get homesick. An hour passed and she couldn't see the town anymore. Opal slowed down to a steady ride and, once her thoughts caught up to her, grew bored. Looking at her pokemon, she noticed Whispy was asleep while Typhon was very much awake. "Ok it's time we bonded, Typhon." She released the cindaquil from its case and slowed down so that it could walk comfortably beside her. "Here we are on the road, don't you feel excited having the wind sweep right pass you."

Typhon squeaked as a response. "Do you know why I decided to call you Typhon?" it cocked its head to the side. "It's because you're so squishy and small." Typhon got really embarrassed and ashamed. "Oh don't worry; I'm sure you'll grow to be much bigger than I am."

They continued riding along the side of the road for a few more minutes before Opal noticed something odd. "This road is usually really busy yet not a single car has passed us in either direction since we started." Opal looked down at Typhon. "Climb on the handles, maybe we'll find something up ahead." She helped the cindaquil climb on to the bike and popped the bike onto the smooth surface of the road. "Hang on!" she said as she pedaled with all her strength. It wasn't long until they were approaching the cause of the lack of traffic.

Three large trucks, torn apart by some powerful monster, lay aflame on the street. Several emergency personnel were tending to the flames while others organized themselves into a search party. Opal couldn't help but gape at the extent of the damage. She got off her bike and took to walking. As she drew near, one of the police officers ran towards her to stop her. "I'm sorry miss, but you're going to have to turn back and find another way to get to Jonansre."

"What happened here?" Opal asked trying to see if she can possibly help them with anything. She noticed a symbol on the trucks of a hammer and spade in front of a red star.

"These trucks were headed to Nem's Lighthouse with some pokemon to clear up a mess that happened in the mountain pass on Route 924," the officer said. He looked over his shoulder at the others doing their jobs and saw several groups disappear into the forests around the road to look for the missing pokemon. He returned his attention to Opal. "This area is not safe, you should go back and wait at your house until the road is clear and the pokemon have been caught."

"But I can't go back after all of the progress we've made," Opal pouted.

"Well I can't let you through; it's a complete mess for a little girl in a bike to ride through." Opal can tell the officer was losing his patience. He probably has had to tell other people the same thing and he doesn't want to get into another argument.

Opal glowered at the guard before turning her bike around and riding away from the scene. After a couple of minutes, she stopped and looked back to see if the officer was still there. She was glad to see he wasn't and turned to Typhon with a crafty smile spread across her face. "We're going to take a short detour around the wreck. What do you say?" she winked at cindaquil who responded with a string of hurried retorts. "Geez, don't be such a worrywart. I'll be careful so we don't meet whatever did that."

Despite cindaquil's protests, Opal plunged down the side of the rode and into the tall grass that covered almost every inch of the area. At times it got too thick for her to keep riding the bike and she had to force it through. She was unknowingly moving farther away from the road and towards a dense forest. When she realized that she had just gotten lost, it was already too late in the day for her to turn back. "Sheesh, who knew that traveling was this hard? And where are all of the wild pokemon? We should've met some of those here too."

She checked her watch for the time. "It's getting late and cold. We should pitch camp soon. If only there was a clearing in all of this grass." They searched for what felt like hours until Opal spotted a large rock jutting out of the grass. "Hey, I'll get on top of that and find one nearby." She swiftly climbed up the large rock and skimmed through the grass and trees for a patch of dirt. She found one not too far away from where she stood. "Typhon! I found a place to-"

The rock shuddered and Opal fell on to the grass with a thud, landing on her left arm. The rock moved as though it was trying to stand. It stretched its arms and bellowed a roar that echoed across the entire forest. Opal saw the same sign on the monster's arm as she did on the side of the trucks. It looked at her and she recognized it as a rhydon. "You must be one of the pokemon that's gone missing," she gawked. Opal got to her feet just as the rhydon mega punched the ground she was just on. "That was close. Alright, come on Typhon." Opal browsed the grass for the tiny weasel/mouse pokemon and found it scurrying away from the beast. "Dammit," Opal cursed as she chased after it. Rhydon was running after them now and it was catching up quick with each second that passed. Finding a trail that cut through the grass, she wished she still had the bike to take her away from the awful monster behind her. Cursing her luck, Opal caught up to Typhon and picked him up. "Use smokescreen!" she yelled. They exploded into a cloud of smoke.

Muffling her coughs, she escaped from the cloud with Typhon in her arms, but the effect of the cloud hurt her eyes and she couldn't' see where was running to. She tripped on a root and tumbled down a large hill, landing on her leg at the bottom. Typhon was thrown out of her arms during the fall and landed a couple of feet away from her. The pain was excruciating and she tried to get closer to Typhon, but her strength was rapidly leaving her. Then she heard the enraged rhydon's roar and it was getting nearer to where they landed. "It hasn't even been a day and this is how I end? With no hope of rescue," she laughed. As consciousness slipped from her grasp, her eyes became heavy.

As her vision left her, something darted from out of the grass, a blue liquid dripping from its tail. Then, a shadow loomed over her and she can feel a cool hand press itself on her forehead and wrist. Then, everything went black.


End file.
